A Second Chance
by ismellsofruity
Summary: The world is at peace. The four nations are living harmoniously once again. It seemed to everyone the Zuko had righted all the wrongs of the past Fire Lords. However Zuko knows there is still one thing he has yet to fix, his sister. He asks the spirits to give Azula a second chance, and they do, but in a way Zuko would have never thought. EVENTUAL ZUTARA.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own A:TLA but I wish I did. Also please review if you like it.

The war was ended, the Earth kingdom was restored to its former glory, and the Fire nation was forgiven for the 100 year war. Everyone believed that Zuko had fixed everything that the former Fire lords had destroyed, everyone but Zuko. He knew there was one thing his father had destroyed and he had failed to fix, and he was staring at her in the eyes. "How are you doing Azula" the young Fire Lord asked.

"You know very well how I'm doing Zuzu," responded Azula bitterly. She was glaring at her brother with pure hatred. "I know you don't care how I'm doing so why not save yourself the trip and not come back".

"You're right Azula", said Zuko sighing, "and that's why I'm here right now. If you don't start listing to the doctors and try to get better soon the council is going to force me to kill you, and unlike you I don't want to be responsible for the death of another family member". Zuko mentally cursed. Why did she have to be so stubborn, why can't she just accept the help I'm giving her he thought to himself.

Azula moved forward so her face was placed between two metal bars and yelled, "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ZUKO". Zuko flinched when he heard his sister yell because it was so unlike her usual calm self. He quickly regained his composure reminding himself that this was not his calm sister, but a sad shell of her former self

"Very well", said Zuko as he got up and walked to the door slowly, "but don't think I've given up on you yet Azula". After he said those words he opened the door and walked out. While he was closing the door he could hear the young sociopath yelling at him from the top of her lungs to leave her alone.

After he left the mental asylum where Azula was being held he went back home to the palace in hopes of getting some sleep. After lying around in bed for 10 minutes he realised he couldn't go to sleep and so he went to the court yard in hopes that bending for a while would help him fall asleep. After shooting fireballs out of his fists and occasionally from his feet for about two hours he decided to lie down on the grass and stare up into the night sky. Today was a full moon and he thought about how a certain waterbender would be at full power. Quickly dispelling those thoughts he started to think about his sister. "Please spirits help my sister and give her a second chance".

Back at the asylum Azula was having trouble sleeping. Anytime she would sleep she would be haunted by dreams of her father hurting her, or in some cases, Zuko hurting her. She was staring at a grey bricked wall until she heard a voice. "I know things seem bad right now, but trust me they will get better."

Azula quickly turned around to see a woman with white hair and mocha skin colour and blue looking at her. She seemed to glow like the moon giving off a pale white light. "Who are you" Azula asked while she advanced towards the figure.

"I am Yue, the moon spirit"

"Liar", yelled Azula as she threw herself at Yue, only to pass through her. "I demand you leave me alone this moment."

"I'm afraid I can't do that" replied the moon sprit, "you see your brother has helped restore balance to the world, and so as spirits, we decided that he gets one favour, and tonight he asked the spirits to give you a second chance, so I am here to give that to you."

" I DON'T WANT HIS HELP OR YOUR HELP SO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE" yelled Azula stepping away from the figure, " JUST LEAVE ME ALONE".

"Trust me this will help you a lot" said Yue as she advanced towards Azula. Azula continued to move back until she was pressed against the wall. Yue stepped forward until they where an arm's length apart and she reached out her hand and touched Azula's fore head in a similar way to energybending. "Consider this a second chance at life", and as soon as those words were spoken, the room was filled with a bright white light, the sounds of Azula's hysterical screams where soon silenced and the bright white light soon dimmed until it was gone. "Well now it's time to go visit a certain Fire Lord" said Yue as she bent down and picked up a bundle, then with a quick snap, she was gone, and so was Azula.

I hope you all enjoyed it.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews guy,  
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I made it pretty long.  
I don't own A:TLA

Zuko finally felt relaxed enough to fall asleep and so he got up and walked towards his room. While he was walking he passed by his uncle. "Hello uncle", said Zuko stopping in front of Iroh.

"Hello dear nephew, why are you not sleeping, it is late", replied his uncle looking somewhat concerned. For him it was not new that his nephew would be awake this late into the night, but usually he would be crammed in his office, working on paper work that never seemed to end, until he collapsed due to fatigue. The fact that Zuko was awake now but not in his office seemed strange to the dragon of the west and made him worry a little bit.

"I've been thinking", said Zuko, "I visited Azula today and she isn't getting any better. If she doesn't start improving soon, the council is going to make me kill her, and no matter how bad Azula was, I can't bring myself to kill her, she's my sister". Zuko shifted uncomfortably because while he knew his uncle was a kind and wise man, when it came to Azula, Iroh wouldn't let the fact that she is family cloud his thinking. "I know that you think Azula can't be saved, but at one point, many people thought that I couldn't be saved, and no matter how much I refused your help you wouldn't give up on me, and I want to give Azula a fair chance, just like how you gave me a fair chance".

"You are a kind and noble person Zuko", said Iroh, "and it is true that she has not been given the chance you where given, but remember you father has reduced her to nothing more the a clone of himself, she has been trained to be a ruthless killer without a sense of mercy, and considering her fragile mental state, she is very dangerous." Iroh did not enjoy saying this, but Zuko needed to learn that the little girl whom he'd know before she learned how to firebend was gone and the person he sees now is just a shell of her. "But I have faith in you, and I will support you no matter what you choose."

Zuko advanced towards his uncle before giving him a quick hug. "Thank you uncle," said Zuko clearing his throat, "now if you don't mind, I am going to sleep because I am very tired. Goodnight."

While Zuko was walking away his uncle said, "Goodnight nephew, if you need anything I will be in my room." Iroh then proceeded to walk in the opposite direction and enter his room.

After Zuko's talk with Iroh, Zuko was feeling a little depressed, because he knew that his uncle was right, Azula really was just a clone of his father. Whatever, I'll figure out what to do in the morning thought Zuko as he opened his door and made his way to his bed, completely ignoring his surroundings. Had he been paying attention he would have seen Yue standing in his room near his window. "Having a nice night?" asked the spirit.

Zuko quickly jumped up out of his bed with fireballs in both hands, with a very serious face. "Who are you and why are you here," he asked. Zuko was very annoyed, he had been very tired and he hoped that he would be able to get some sleep before the sun rose.

"You don't recognize me Fire lord, well I suppose it is alright because you haven't seen me in 2 years" replied the spirit.

"Wait," said Zuko remembering who she was now, "weren't you the girl Sokka loved who turned into the moon."

"That is a very crude summary, but yes I am Yue, the girl who sacrificed herself to become the new moon spirit after Zhao killed the former moon spirit," stated Yue shifting the bundle from one hand to another, "as to why I am here, the spirits listened to your prayer and because you helped restore balance to the world, we gave you sister a second chance."

Zuko stared at Yue for a minute before pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and sure enough he felt the pain from the pinch. "Ok so I'm not dreaming, so where is my sister?" asked Zuko.

Yue put the bundle she was holding onto Zuko's bed and said, "Your sister has been given a second chance, as you had asked, now it is up to you to make sure she does not repeat her mistakes, because instead of Ozai raising her, it will be you." After she said those words she disappeared into the night.

Curious at what Yue had meant by that, Zuko looked at the bundle. To say he got surprised at what he saw was an understatement. In the bundle, staring at him was his baby sister, emphasis on the baby. "Holy crap," was the only thing that Zuko could say. He quickly picked up Azula and with a high degree of stealth, he sneaked his way to his uncle's room.

Zuko was to worried to knock on the door and he simply burst into the room saying, "Uncle we have a big problem." His uncle drank the remainder of his tea and motioned for Zuko to sit down on the chair across the table from him. Iroh eyed the bundle in Zuko's arms suspiciously but decided it would be best for Zuko to explain. "Uncle do you remember what me and Azula looked liked as children?"

"Of course I do Zuko, how bad do you think my memory is," said his uncle "Now please tell me what the bad news is, did you kill one of the council men?" he asked jokingly.

"Uncle there is no time for jokes, tell me is this what Azula looked like as a baby?" asked Zuko while he lowered his arms so that Iroh could get a good look at the baby's face. For the first time in years, Iroh looked truly shocked.

"Yes that is exactly how she looked, now who is this child?" asked uncle, growing concerned. Zuko retold the events that had happened minutes ago and by the end of it Iroh seemed to be beaming with joy. "This is wonderful nephew, now you can truly help Azula, with you acting like her father she will turn out great" he exclaimed.

"That's the problem, I don't know the first thing about being a father, that's why I was hoping you could take care of her for me," asked a nervous Zuko. He wasn't showing it but his uncle could tell that Zuko was extremely nervous and scared at the fact that he had to act as Azula's father.

"No nephew, this is a task given to you by the spirits, therefore I can't take care of her, and I can give you advice but nothing more."

"I can't father her, I have my responsibilities to the fire nation, and besides, wouldn't people find it strange that a girl who looks just like Azula would be growing up in the palace, people would think that she's Azula's daughter and would try to kill her!" shouted Zuko. All of Zuko's nervousness and doubt was starting to come out.

"That is why dear nephew... you must die," Said Iroh. Zuko was about yell at his uncle demanding an explanation but his uncle cut him off. "You must disappear from society so that you can raise Azula, and to make sure that happens, people must think you are dead, try to understand nephew, your little sister now is completely dependent on you. You said that you wanted to help her and now you have been given a chance, do not waste it."

"Your right uncle, tomorrow will be the death of the former Fire lord," said Zuko pointing to himself. "And the beginning of a new one," said Zuko pointing to his uncle. "I will father Azula now, and I will not let her turn out like she did before, it's time I fix the last thing my father has broken." Zuko looked down to Azula, seeing her sleep so peacefully, and a small smile formed on his lips.

Hope you guys enjoyed it but please don't think I will keep updating this fast, I only did it cause i had nothing else to do. Anyways please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guy, I know I said i wouldn't update as soon, but its summer and I got nothing planned so enjoy. I don't own A:TLA

"So to recap, the plan is that we go to visit your sister. When we reach the mental facility, you tell all the guards to take a break and eat lunch. Then when the ship is empty you sneak back on with Azula and you steal one of the life boats. Then go to the base of the cliff on the west side of the facility and leave your ripped up robe there. Once you are out of sight, I will scream your name, then when all the guards rush over I will tell them that Azula jumped off the cliff in a suicide attempt and you jumped after her trying to save her, and in the end both of you died," said his uncle, looking at Zuko tiredly. It was now dawn and they had finally agreed on a suitable plan for the Fire lord's death. Iroh poured out tea into two cups, "The lavender in the tea will help calm you nephew, and by the looks of it you could use it."

What Iroh said was true, Zuko looked very restless. There were dark bags under his eyes, he slouched over and he seemed ready to punch a hole through a wall. Zuko picked up the drink and right when he was about to drink it, Azula started to cry. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Zuko asked bitterly, glaring at Azula. But of course Azula didn't understand what Zuko was saying and she kept crying. Zuko took a deep breath in, in hopes of calming himself, and when he did, he smelled something very noxious. "Uncle did you by any chance PUT PUKE IN THIS TEA IT SMELLS HORRIBLE!" shouted Zuko shaking in anger.

"No Zuko, it is not the tea that smells, I think Azula just took a washroom break," said Iroh laughing very loudly. The look on his nephew's face was priceless, Zuko's eyes were widen, his jaw dropped and some beads of sweat were forming.

"You're ganna change her, right uncle?" asked Zuko hopefully. I can't change her, I don't know how to tie a diaper, and come on I'm the Fire lord, I shouldn't have to change a diaper he thought.

Almost as if Iroh read Zuko's mind he said, "No you have to change her, you are her father after all, now wait here while I go to get some supplies." Iroh stood up and quickly left before Zuko could protest, lockinh the doors so no one could enter. Now Zuko was all alone with a crying Azula. "Oh and you might want to take off her diaper unless you want her to get a rash," shouted uncle from outside. Azula quieted down as she felt Zuko pick her up.

"Stupid, senile old man just trying to take the lazy way out," muttered Zuko under his breath. After he said that Azula squealed, almost as if she was agreeing with him. Zuko smiled softly as he placed Azula on the table to take her diaper off. His smile quickly disappeared and he found himself running to the washroom before emptying out his dinner and the tea into the toilet. "Dear agni, how the hell does someone so small make such a stench." Outside he could hear Azula saying something incomprehensible and then start to cry again. Zuko quickly opened all the windows in his uncle's room and dispose of the diaper by burning it and chunking out the nearest window.

Outside a guard was on his usual patrol of the palace when he smelled something horrible. "What in agni's name is that stench, it smells a little like-" the guard couldn't complete his sentence because a flying burning diaper fell on his head. He looked around for a little while before throwing the diaper off him and muttering, "I gotta lay of the cactus juice."

Back inside Iroh's room Zuko was scrambling about trying to get Azula to shut up. "Peek-a-boo," said Zuko while hiding his face behind his hands and then showing it again. "Wait I have an idea, I'll be back," said Zuko, "Wait, who the hell am I talking to?" Zuko quickly escaped his uncle's room and rushed into one of the royal storages. After rummaging through some portraits and toys he found what he was looking for, it was a stuffed turtle duck. "Man I almost forgot I had you, maybe Azula will shut up when I give her to you." Zuko stared at the turtle duck and remembered how he had gotten it.

Zuko had just gotten back from firebending practice and the look on his face was enough to tell hat it hadn't gone as he wanted it to. "Hey dumb-dumb, nice foot work back there," taunted a 6 year old Azula. Zuko had slipped while demonstrating a simple combo which consisted on fire punches and fire kicks. He started off well, punching a good sized fireball for an 8 year old. However after the second high kick Zuko started to put too much weight on his left foot so when he had to perform a roundhouse fire kick with his right foot he became unbalanced and fell over.

"Shut up Azula, I only slipped cause the floors were polished," said Zuko. He mentally groaned for saying such a weak and stupid comeback.

"Sure they were Zuzu, I'll believe that excuse the day I believe uncle wasn't always fat," said Azula mocking both Iroh and Zuko.

"Azula that is not how you talk to family," scolded their mother from behind.

Azula simply turned around and looked at her mom with her best innocent face and said "I'm sorry mother," while muttering under her breath, "I'm sorry that its true," before walking away. Ursa looked disapprovingly at Azula before looking at Zuko.

"Follow me Zuko, I have a surprise for you," said Ursa while she walked towards the garden. Zuko's eyes widened and his face lit up while he wondered what he was going to get. They got to the garden and Zuko looked around at his favorite place in the palace. The fire lilies were just starting to bloom, and there was still some morning dew on the grass. He then looked and saw his mother at her favourite place, in front of their small pond, feeding the turtle ducks. She motioned for him to sit down beside her. "I heard that you slipped a little bit today at practice," said Ursa. When Zuko heard that he looked down saddened, he didn't know that his mother would be antagonizing him for it too. Ursa saw how her son looked sad and she decided to speak, "It's ok to make mistakes Zuko, you wouldn't believe how many mistakes I've made in my life. But the important thing is that you learn from your mistakes." Zuko still looked a little sad so Ursa decided to cheer him up, "Remember when you were 4 and you saw this one stuffed turtle duck in the market and you really wanted to buy it, but when we went to go buy it someone had already bought the last one and they said that there wouldn't be any more shipments of stuffed turtle ducks," Zuko slowly nodded and his mother continued, "You cried for such a long time because you really wanted, well," Ursa reached for something from under her robe and she slowly pulled out a stuffed turtle duck, " I know it took a while but-," Ursa got cut off as Zuko tackled her into a hug.

"Thank you mother," said Zuko as he held the stuffed turtle duck. For Zuko it wasn't the duck itself that made him happy but the fact that his mother cared enough to get him it and that even after 3 years she didn't forget.

Zuko could stare at the turtle duck for hours, remembering all the good memories but then he remembered that Azula was still crying her little head off. Zuko quickly snuck back into his uncle's room and sure enough, Azula was there on the bed, still crying. Zuko approached her holding the turtle duck over Azula. Azula looked up at the turtle duck and she reached up to pick it up but her arms were too short. Then Zuko lowered the stuffed animal and Azula grabbed onto it, snuggling with it, finally calm and not crying. Zuko smiled and decided to sit down on the chair and wait for his uncle to come back.

After two hours Iroh burst through the doors with three bags of baby items. Zuko stood up staring at Iroh, and then looked at the bags questionably. "I thought that you only went to get diapers?" asked Zuko.

"Well at first I did but then I thought that I might as well buy all the things you'll need," said Iroh while he took all the objects out of the bags one by one, "baby formula, diapers, clothing, toys and a parenting book."

"Fathering for dummies," said Zuko amused, "you should have given this one to my father." As Zuko looked over the objects, one fluffy pink object caught his eyes. He picked it up and the object reveled itself to be a full bunny onesie with a matching bunny ears hat. Zuko looked at his uncle with one eye brow raised. "What is this?"

"Well, it was really cheap and I think it would look adorable on Azula," said Iroh with clear humor in his voice.

Suddenly Zuko thought about how he could hold this against Azula until he died, and he started to laugh holding the outfit up to his face before he decided to put it on Azula. First his uncle taught him how to put on diapers, and after a few failed attempts he mastered how to put on a diaper. He then started to laugh almost evilly as he put on the bunny costume on Azula. In the end Azula sat there dressed up in a pink fluffy onesie and bunny ears that were flopping over her face. If people thought that things couldn't get any cuter, she then decided to smile while gripping on to her new friend, the stuffed turtle duck. Zuko was hunched over laughing at how strange this whole scene looked while Iroh started at Azula deep in thought. Perhaps he had been wrong about Azula; maybe life just wasn't fair to her in the end. Regardless of what happened in the past, Iroh decided that Azula deserves a fair chance aswell.

"Now Zuko, get ready for tomorrow, take Azula to your room and try to get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow," said Iroh grimly.

I hope you guys enjoyed it, and remember reviews are what motivate me to update faster.


	4. Chapter 4

Honestly, I feel like this probably isn't the best chapter I wrote and if it's really bad I apologies.  
I don't own A:TLA

It was five in the morning when Iroh went to go wake Zuko up. He excepted Zuko to still be sleeping after the day he had yesterday, finding out that your sister has become a baby and having to take care of her could mentally wear anyone out. When Iroh entered the room, instead of finding Zuko sleeping like he thought he would, Zuko was standing up, holding Azula over a shoulder and tried to make her burp. "Good morning Zuko," said Iroh as he observed what was going on in front of him. Zuko was in his pajama pants and a sleeveless vest, meaning he didn't leave his room at all last night and he had bags under his eyes, so he probably didn't get a lot of sleep again.

"Good morning uncle," said Zuko tiredly still tapping Azula's back gently. Zuko had been doing this for five minutes and he thought that she would burp soon.

"You know you should put a towel over your shoulder," said his uncle.

"Why?" asked Zuko. Azula took the liberty to explain why by burping and puking at the same time over Zuko's shoulder. Zuko stared at his shoulder for a few seconds before putting Azula down on his bed and yelling, "COME ON!" Zuko seemed more annoyed then angry.

Iroh chuckled. It seemed like Zuko could not get a break, first it was the horrible smelling diaper, now the puke on his shoulder. If he didn't know any better he would think that Azula was doing all the purposely. But of course Azula just laid there on Zuko's bed, not know what was going on.

"Uncle, can you watch over her while I go shower?"asked Zuko. He really needed to relax, he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep because Azula would wake him up every two hours, either hungry, or needing a diaper change.

"I would be honored to Zuko," said his uncle as he looked at Zuko. "Just remember that our ship leaves in two hours." Zuko nodded and ran into the washroom locking the door before his uncle could change his mind. Iroh chuckled before looking at Azula, "What do you think we should do?" Azula just stayed still, not knowing what is going on. "Hmm maybe I should tell you some stories about your dad," offered Iroh. Azula smiled and so Iroh began retelling the tale about Zuko meeting the dragons.

Zuko stayed in the shower for about an hour and when he came out he saw Iroh playing peek-a-boo with Azula. "Having fun uncle," he asked lifting an eye brow.

"Yes I am, Azula is quite the joy when she isn't hurtling fire balls or shooting electricity towards you," Iroh replied with a chuckle. Zuko sighed and he walked towards his closet, taking out his royal robes, and put them on. Usually he would have servants come and tie his hair, but because Azula was in the room, he strictly forbade anyone from entering his room. After much difficulty he tied his hair into an up knot and placed the crown into his top knot.

Zuko then walked towards the three suit cases on his bed. After carefully looking through each one and determining if they had all the necessities that he needed and that a baby needed. After taking some things out and putting some things in, he determined that they were ready to leave. He then turned to his uncle and said, "Uncle I think it's time we leave."

His uncle stopped playing peek-a-boo and looked towards his surrogate son. "Yes we should be leaving," he replied while getting up. As soon as he got up, Zuko tackled him into a hug.

"I'm going to miss you," said Zuko before quickly letting go and regaining his composer.

"I will miss you too," said Iroh before opening the door and leaving towards the ship. After Iroh had left, Zuko looked at Azula. For once he was lucky and she was sleeping. He quickly picked her up and snuck her under his robe, to anyone passing by it would just seem like he had crossed his arms under his robe, a very common Fire lord position. He then left the room as well leaving his suitcases with a servant.

"Take them to my cabin," he instructed before the servant nodded his head and went on ahead with the suitcases. After the servant left, Zuko walked at a brisk pace towards the ships in hopes that he wouldn't get stopped. But of course he wasn't a lucky person. He was a few steps away from exiting the palace, but before he could leave he got stopped by one of the council men.

"Fire lord Zuko, I do not think it is wise to visit your sister, something could happen to you," said the council man. Zuko never really paid attention to this man's name mainly because he wasn't one of the higher ups in the council so he didn't matter much.

Zuko shot the man a glare before speaking, "Are you suggesting that you Fire lord cannot take care of himself." Under his robe he felt Azula squirming and he knew that she would wake up soon. "Because if that is what you are implying I would be glad to show you just how well I can handle myself." Zuko hated being that mean to people, but he knew that if Azula woke up and started to cry, the whole plan would fall apart.

"Of course not my sire," said the council man gulping, "Please forgive me sire."

"You are forgiven," said Zuko before running towards the ship. Once he reached the ship he quickly greeted the captain before running into his cabin. Once he was there he opened his robe and put Azula down on his bed. Luckily she decided to cry once the door was closed and no one else could hear. Zuko checked her diaper and luckily it was clean, so he guessed she was hungry.

He took out a packet of baby formula and mixed it into a bottle. Then he used his firebending to warm it up. He had read in the book that he should drop a little bit of the milk onto his arm to test the temperature. He shook the bottle so that a little bit of milk came out and fell to his skin. It felt a little too cold so he warmed it up a little bit more. He then tried again and this time the milk felt just right. He then picked up Azula and sat down leaning against his head board. He held Azula in an upwards position and stroked the top of the bottle against her cheek. He had read that if he didn't do that she wouldn't drink from the bottle for some odd reason. Azula then move her mouth towards the top of the bottle and started to suck the milk out of it.

While Azula was eating Zuko stared at her, and he started to grow worried. What if im not a good enough father he thought? Right now his biggest fear was that he would end up neglecting her like their father had. Zuko stroked Azula's check while he whispered, "I promise I won't fail like father did."

After about five minutes Azula had finished drinking her milk and she had fallen asleep. Zuko then slowly and carefully moved her out of his arms and onto the bed so that he could go see where they were. After he was sure Azula was sleeping, he slowly got up and walked towards the door. When he opened the door he saw his uncle standing there. Zuko quietly closed the door and then his uncle spoke. "There is a problem, the staff in the mental asylum have noticed Azula's empty cell and they have sent a notice to the captain to turn around and leave, as it is not safe."

After hearing this Zuko marched to the control room. He went to the captain and in his best "Fire lord" voice he said, "We are not going to turn around, we are going to continue to go to the asylum and we will help them apprehend my sister." The captain was about to protest but when he took a look at the Fire lord he couldn't say no. Zuko gave him a commanding look that said, if you don't do what I say you will be reduced to a washroom cleaner.

"Full steam ahead, we will reach the Asylum in ten minutes," said the captain while he saluted to the Fire lord.

Zuko quickly left the control room and went back to his room to get ready for his plan. He had made sure that there was one escape boat that was covered with a tarp, so he could put Azula there without anyone spotting her. He also ripped up his royal robe so that it looks like he got hurt.

After ten minutes Zuko left his room and walked towards the deck. Once everyone was there he spoke, "I'm sure you have all heard that my sister has escaped her cell, I want all of you to search the whole building, every closet and shadow should be double checked, my uncle and I will search the perimeter outside the asylum, and remember, my sister is dangerous, if you spot her do not attempt to attack her alone." Zuko felt a little guilty for lying to all his faithful guards, but it had to be done.

As soon as the ship docked, all the guards rushed out to search the building. Once Zuko and Iroh were alone Zuko went to his room and picked up Azula. He then walked to the escape boat and placed Azula in it. Before Zuko entered the boat he looked at his uncle one last time, before taking off the crown and handing it to Iroh. His uncle looked at Zuko for a little while before saying, "Good luck nephew, take care and do not worry, you will be a great father to Azula." Zuko nodded in hanks before getting onto the ship and cutting the rope.

Once the ship landed in the water, Zuko paddled the ship towards the west side of the asylum where his uncle was standing at the top of the cliff. Zuko laid his tattered robe on one of the pointy rocks, and then he looked at his uncle one last time before paddling away. Once Zuko was out of sight, Iroh yelled for the guards and retold them the planned story were Azula was going to commit suicide and Zuko jumped down to save her, but he got hit by a falling rock and fell into the water, and hasn't resurfaced yet.

All the guards rushed to try and find Zuko's body in the water but after hours and hours of searching they found nothing. The head of the guards went to Iroh and with a grim face said, "I am truly sorry Master Iroh, but we could not find the fire lord's body, and we are now assuming the worst." Uncle Iroh tried his best to make a saddened face and he succeeded in making a real one because he started to think about how much his would miss his dear nephew.

"Today is a grim day in Fire Nation history," said Iroh slowly and painfully.

I hope you guys enjoyed it and please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews, you guys are awesome.  
I don't own A:TLA

Zuko had been sailing for about five hours now. To say that he enjoyed this little adventure so far would be a lie. He was very tired, but he couldn't fall asleep because according to uncle, he had to stay awake during this because something could happen to Azula while he slept. Usually Zuko listens to his uncle's advice, but the waves pushing against the boat were so calming and relaxing. "I'm sure if I fall asleep for an hour, nothing will happen to you," said Zuko while looking at a sleeping Azula in front of him. So against his better judgement, Zuko closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

It was about twenty minutes after Zuko fell asleep and Azula had woken up. Azula started crying but Zuko was too deep in sleep to hear her at first. Her crying did however attract the attention of a wild dragonhawk who had been flying by. The dragonhawk approached the boat carefully, watching Zuko to see if he would move at all. After watching Zuko for a little while, the creature determined that Zuko would not move and he moved closer to Azula. When he looked down at Azula he chirped hungrily, making Azula cry even louder. In one swift movement, the dragonhawk grabbed onto Azula with his claws and flew into the air moving faster and faster away from the boat. At this point Azula was crying her little head off.

Zuko had heard Azula crying and he opened his eyes, lazily. "Damn brat waking me up from my nap," whispered Zuko. Zuko was getting tired of Azula's constant crying, a guy can only take so much crying. But when he fully opened his eyes, he didn't see Azula on the boat. Zuko panicked and he jumped up so that he was standing up. "Oh shit, where is she?" Zuko finally noticed that the crying was somehow coming from the sky so he looked upwards. The first thing that Zuko saw was a dragonhawk flying away with a bunny. Zuko looked closer and he saw that the bunny was pink and fluffy. Zuko's eyes widened as he realised exactly what was going on. He quickly jumped off the boat, and using fire, he propelled himself towards the hawk at blinding speed.

Once Zuko was in arms reach of the bird two things happened. First, Zuko swung his arm towards the creature in an attempt to reach Azula and free him, but his hand fell short and he ended up hitting the hawk. Second, the shock from Zuko hitting the hawk made it release Azula, over the ocean.

Zuko propelled himself forward to try and catch Azula, however the dragonhawk got in his way and he ended up missing her by an inch. Zuko's paralyzed in fear as he saw Azula plummet towards the water. When he saw Azula body enter the water, he reacted. As fast as he could, Zuko flew into the water. He looked around but he couldn't find Azula anywhere. Just when he was about to give up hope, he saw something pink and he swam towards in with god like speed, and luckily it was Azula. Zuko quickly grabbed Azula and flew out of the water so fast you would think that he waterbended.

He then propelled himself and Azula to their small boat and he laid Azula down gently. That was when Zuko realised something was wrong. Why is she so cold he thought? He put his hand against his hand against her chest and his eyes widened in shock. "You're not breathing," he whispered. A tear came down Zuko's eye, and he figured out that she had taken in too much water while she was in the ocean. He quickly put two fingers on her chest and he gently pushed down. Each time he tried and failed, he grew more worried, and more tear came down his eyes. "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" was all Zuko could say. He continued this for five minutes. His vision became clouded by his tears and he couldn't think properly.

It was then that he remembered a medical trick that he had learned. His uncle had once told him that he could technically revive someone with a jolt of electricity. Depending on the size, weight, age and how long the person has been dead, you send a jolt of electricity through their body and it could revive them. Zuko was getting desperate and he couldn't think of anything else to help her. So Zuko summoned a little bit of electricity and sent it towards Azula's body. Azula's body jerked because of the electricity, but she did not move and her eyes were still closed.

Zuko picked up the stuffed turtle duck that had been lying around and said almost hysterically, "If you wake up I'll let you play with your favourite stuffed animal." But sadly Azula did not move or do anything at all. Zuko was cry loudly while saying, "Please wake up for daddy, I promise if you wake up we'll have lots of fun, all you have to do is wake up." Again Azula did not move at all. Zuko fell backwards clutching his chest while he sobbed. "I'm so sorry!" he yelled, still crying. While Zuko was crying, Azula slowly opened her eyes, and started to cough and cry. Zuko looked up begging that he was not hearing things, and when he saw Azula crying, he rushed towards her.

Zuko quickly picked Azula up and cradled her back and forth. He increased his body heat so that he could warm Azula up. Azula cuddled up against Zuko and soon fell asleep. Zuko just watched her, a few tears still falling from his eyes. He lowered his head so that his face was close to Azula's face and he whispered in a very low voice, "I'm so sorry, I promise that from now on I'll take care of you properly." After he said that he gently kissed her fore head before slowly leaning back and breathing with relief.

For the Iroh, the past few days have been emotionally and mentally exhausting. Word had gotten out that the former Fire lord had passed away before Iroh had even gotten back to the palace. Now every where he looks, he can see nobles or servants grieving for the loss of their previous Fire lord. Iroh had been feeling strangely happy and sad about that. He was happy that so many people care for his nephew, but it broke his heart to be causing so much grief to so many people.

Iroh had been sitting in his office, finalizing the plans for his nephew's funeral when his secretary came into the room. "Fire lord Iroh, the Avatar and his friends are here to see you," said the secretary with a solemn tone, "If you are busy I can tell them to come back later."

Iroh nodded his head and said, "Please, let them in." Iroh was secretly hoping that the Avatar and his friends would not come to the funeral, simply because he felt too much guilt lying to them. His secretary bowed and left the room.

No sooner than when the secretary left, Katara came bursting into the room, tears flowing from her eyes, and she asked quietly, "Is it true?"

Toph, Sokka and Aang all walked in after Katara, all wanting an answer to the same question that Katara had just asked. Iroh slowly nodded his head as he saw the different way each person reacted to the news. Katara broke down, sobbing into Iroh chest. Aang was trying to keep himself from crying, however a few tears still ran down his cheek. Sokka lowered his head in respect for their fallen comrade. Toph on the other hand was reacting completely different from the rest of them.

Toph's eyes widened and she stared at Iroh. He's lying thought Toph. She could feel the vibrations coming off of him, they were too quick, and only when people lie do their vibrations become that fast. Toph was about yell it out before she realised that it was Uncle Iroh, there's no way he could harm his nephew.

Iroh noted Toph's strange reaction and then he remembered that Toph was a walking lie detector. He gently pushed Katara away and said, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, I to feel terribly distressed by this. Now if you will please excuse me I need to rest a little, my secretary will show you all to your rooms." He walked out of the room slowly and as he passed by Toph he whispered quietly so that only she could hear, "If you want to know the truth, come to my room in one hour," and after that was said he left the room. His secretary entered and told the gaang to follow him. Toph stayed at the back of the group wondering what Iroh could be hiding from everyone.

I hope you guys enjoyed, and please remember to review.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys, sorry for the wait. To be honest I've been having writers block and I couldn't think of anything. Anyways I hope you enjoy.  
I don't own A:TLA

It had been an hour since Toph was escorted to her room and now she was just about to leave to talk to Iroh. "Damn I'm tired. Why couldn't he have scheduled this meeting at noon or any other time when normal people are awake," complained Toph as she opened the door. After making sure no one was watching, Toph left her room. As she walked through the halls her mind was thinking of ways to get back at Zuko for making everyone worry. "Maybe I should hide berries in his pants and let Momo find them," she said aloud, smirking. Toph walked into the royal gardens because she would reach Iroh's room faster if she cut through it Toph was just about to leave when she felt some vibration coming from the small pond a few meters to her left. Figuring out who it was fairly quickly, she decided to have some fun.

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(Five minutes earlier)

Katara couldn't sleep tonight, no matter how much she tried. She tossed and turned on her bed but she just couldn't sleep. She had too much on her mind. It hurt that someone from their group had died and it was natural that she should be feeling sad. Granted at first she had hated Zuko with a passion, but then he helped her find her mother's killer and after that they became friends, and after Zuko had took that lightning bolt that was Azula sent to kill her they became close friends.

Knowing that Zuko had died was only half the reason she couldn't sleep, the other half was how. Knowing that Zuko had drowned made her feel way worse. What's the point of being a waterbending master if you can't even save your friend from drowning thought Katara. She felt tears forming around her eyes and she buried her face into her pillow. "Stop crying," said Katara to herself, "It's not going to help anyone. Maybe I should go waterbend for a little while. Waterbending always calms me." Katara got up and wiped the tears from her eyes, she wouldn't let anyone see her like this.

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Toph walked up behind Katara and saw her lying down on the grass, staring into the night sky. Toph could feel that her heart beat was faster than usual. That could mean a lot of things but Toph had a pretty good guess what it meant. "Really sugar queen, I'm sure the beds in the fire nation aren't that bad that sleeping on the ground is better. Course I do like dirt but I know that you're all about cleanliness and pampering yourself," said Toph as she went to sit beside Katara.

Katara quickly wiped away the tears that were going down her cheek and turned to Toph and said with the happiest voice she could produce, " I'm not really tired so I thought that I'd come here and waterbend for a while." She wasn't lying, she had originally come here to waterbend, but after a few basic forums she didn't feel up to it and she lay down on the grass and her mind had gone back to how she failed Zuko. She decided that because no one was here she could cry a little and hopefully she would feel better.

Toph just looked at what she thought was Katara's face, in truth she was staring at a bush just to the left of Katara's face and said in a mocking voice, "Then how come the only thing waterbending is your eyes."

Katara sighed and turned back to look at the sky. "If I was there Zuko would still be alive. He saved my life twice and I couldn't repay the favour," said Katara, new tears forming. She had been feeling a mixture of sorrow and disappointment.

Toph sighed before saying, "Really, thats why your all gloom and doom?" Katara was about to answer but Toph cut her off, "It's not your fault Zuko decided to go alone without telling us, I mean come on he always acts like the lone angsty hero never telling us what he's ganna do. So really it's his fault for not telling anyone, so stop beating yourself up for it, or I'll start beating you up instead. Plus you did save his life once, remember when he fell off the airship and if you didn't save him from falling he would've died." Plus he's still most likely alive thought Toph.

Katara sighed and looked at Toph for a moment before saying, "I guess you're right, thanks Toph."

"No problem sweetness, now if you don't mind I gotta go meet Iroh, he wanted to tell me something," replied Toph as she walked away.

Toph had finally made it to Iroh's room and instead of knocking on the door like she should've, she just burst in and said, "I hope you made some tea, cause its really late and I'm tired."

Iroh chuckled to himself at the earthbender's behaviour. "Of course I made tea," said Iroh as Toph walked over and sat down in front of him.

Toph picked up the cup of tea and started to drink it. After she finished it, she slammed the cup down onto the table and asked, "Now what's the whole deal about Sparky?" Iroh paused for a moment before he started to laugh.

"Sparky is a very fitting nickname for my nephew, I'll make sure to remember to call him that later."

Toph looked at Iroh and said, "So I'm guessing he really is alive." Iroh nodded and before he could say anything Toph said, "Then how come he acts like he's dead? Is he off on some super secret Quest or something?"

Iroh looked at Toph for a few moments. He was deciding whether or not he should tell her what happened. After debating in his mind for a minute he spoke, "I'm not going to tell you what he did, but I can assure you that he hasn't done anything bad. It would not be fair to him if I told you why he left." Toph was about to protest but Iroh cut her off and said, "However, I do need someone to go and check up on him in a year, and I can't go because of my position."

Toph stood up smirking and said, "I'll do it uncle. Just tell me where Sparky's hiding and I'll make sure he pays for making Katara cry. That and making me wake up so early in the morning today."

Iroh smiled and said, "He's going to be living in the earth kingdom, in a small town near the pier."

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"I swear I'm probably missing land right now more than Toph ever did," said Zuko sighing. They had been sailing for three days and Zuko was ready to drown himself. They were almost running out of food, there were no more diapers left, and if she soiled the diaper she was wearing now, Zuko would have to improvise a diaper, and to make matters worse Azula wouldn't shut up, she would either be crying or be talking in baby language. The only time she was quite was when she was sleeping, but that didn't last long.

"bhhaa," said Azula smiling.

Zuko looked over at her amused and said, "Even when you're just a baby you still find ways of torturing me. Guess it's in your blood." Azula said something incoherent and blew out a spit bubble. Zuko sighed and said, "I guess I'll take that as a yes." To anyone passing by it would seem strange that a grown man was talking to a small infant who was unable to understand anything he said, but because they were in the middle of the ocean with no one to see him Zuko allowed himself to act a little bit like Sokka.

Zuko sighed, thinking of his old friends. Truth is he felt guilty for leaving them and pretending to die. Maybe they could've understood the situation and they wouldn't do anything to harm her, thought Zuko, but then again they might've considered Azula too big a treat and have her killed or something. Zuko sighed pushing two fingers into his temple, "Like being the Fire lord didn't cause enough stress in my life."

He leaned back to relax for a little while, but before he could close his eyes, he heard noises. At first it was a muffled sound but as Zuko drifted close he could tell that it sounded like a lot of people. Once he figured out the sound was coming for a pier, Zuko quickly got up and walked towards the oars. Ignoring Azula's newest comment, Zuko paddled with inhumane strength towards the pier.

By the time they reached the pier, Zuko was panting and sweating. One of the fishermen nearby noticed and went to Zuko's boat. "Hey boy what's the rush?" he asked jokingly, "You look like you saw a monster." Too bad for him Zuko wasn't in a joking mood.

Zuko looked up to see the fisherman. He was a medium height male with black hair that spikes up. His face was tan so Zuko assumed he was born in the earth kingdom and he was skinny, so Zuko guessed he wasn't a bender. Zuko stood up so that he was eye level with the man and asked, "Where is the nearest inn?"

Unfortunately for Zuko, the fisherman wasn't paying attention to him and was more focused on Azula. "What a cute baby ya got there. Where's the mother?" he asked.

Zuko had prepared for a question like this before hand and said, "She died during child birth."

The fisherman looked at him with pity in his eyes, "I'm sorry lad," he said sympathetically.

Zuko looked at him and said, "It's alright, I'm over it."

The fisherman patted Zuko's back and said, "You are a brave lad. Now the inn is down the road and to your left, you couldn't possibly miss it. Oh and you might want to take your kid to the healer, she looks a little ill. She is the owner of the inn." As if on cue, Azula sneezed.

Zuko thanked the man before picking Azula up and holding her at his hip. He then got his and Azula's suitcase and started to walk towards the inn. How could I not know that she was sick, thought Zuko, I was with her for three days and I didn't notice, but some fisherman looks at her for five minutes and can tell if she's sick? If I can't even tell if she's sick how can I take care of her properly? Was this all a mistake, maybe I should've dropped her off in an orphanage, they would defiantly be able to take care of her better.

Zuko looked down and saw Azula snuggled up close to Zuko and grabbed his shirt with her tiny fists, before yawning contently and falling asleep. "I guess I can try," he said. However he thought, one more mistake and I'm giving her up, it wouldn't be fair to her.

Well I hope you guys enjoyed and please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guy, thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. Unfortunately I won't be able to update for a while because I'm going on a vacation.  
Hope you guys enjoy. And just in case you don't get it, there has been a one year gap since the last chapter, and you can expect either one or two more time skips.

It had been a year since Zuko moved into the quite port town. A year since he disappeared and a year since Lee moved into town. Zuko had taken up the name Lee, because it reminded him of his travels with uncle. Zuko smiled as he thought of his adventures with his uncle. He had been so confused at that point in his life, and he made many mistakes, but they all helped him be the man he was today. After yawning for a little while Zuko got up and stretched.

After his morning rituals, Zuko entered the room that was across the hall for his. He walked over to the crib that was opposite from the door. He looked at the tiny figure that was in the crib. The little child was breathing calmly as she slept. Zuko grinned and he left the room to make breakfast.

Zuko was in the middle of eating eggs when he heard Azula wake up. He sighed annoyed as he left his eggs to walk to Azula's room. He had gotten use to the fact that he had to feed her and change her, but the one thing Zuko still hasn't gotten use to is constantly being woken up or interrupted while he was doing something important because of a kid.

He entered his room and he saw Azula in her crib, moving around trying to get out. Zuko walked up to Azula and lifted her out of her crib. Azula snuggled against Zuko as she mumbled something. Zuko looked at her and said, "You really enjoy taking me away from my food don't you?" Azula just looked up at him and smiled. Zuko sighed and walked to the kitchen so he could make Azula breakfast. When he made it to the kitchen, Azula began to squirm in his hands, wanting to be put down. Zuko gently put her down on the ground and she began to crawl towards a few toys put in a corner of the room. Zuko had left a few toys there because every time he moved them to Azula's room, they would somehow find their way back to the living room. After a while Zuko left her toys there and called it "Azula's corner'.

He finished making Azula's baby food and he lifted her onto a high chair as he fed her. It took a little while, but he managed to feed Azula without her throwing a fit. After he finished his eggs, which were cold, he sat and watched as Azula played with her toys. He read that a baby should start talking at around her age to Zuko went up to her and said, "Come on, say Zuko." Normally, parents would tell their child to say 'mama' or 'dada', but Zuko wasn't a normal parent. He knew that he would have to act like a father around Azula, but that didn't make him feel comfortable. There was just something deep inside of him that would feel uneasy, and truth is he was scared. He was scared to be a father because he was scared that he would end up treating her like Ozai treated him.

Azula started at him with her eyes wide and he head tilted a little. After staring for a while Azula tried to say Zuko, but failed and only said something in baby talk, but she didn't give up. Zuko sighed and he turned around, going to change his clothes. Truth is he had been a little excited to hear Azula say his name, and he felt a little disappointed that she didn't say anything. However, when he was about to enter the hall, he heard something that made his blood freeze.

"Zuzu." He turned around slowly, as if he were expecting a teen age Azula waiting for him, ready to attack. He felt his heart beat faster and faster and he threw his arm into a fighting stance. But when he turned around, everything was completely normal. Baby Azula was there staring at with a huge smile on her face and she said again, "Zuzu," while she smiled and laughed after she finished.

Zuko started at her, dumbfounded. Did she really call me that, he thought; maybe my ears aren't working properly. But again he heard Azula say Zuzu. If anyone were to walk in now, they would see Zuko staring at Azula, his eyes widened and his mouth hanging in shock. It took Zuko a few minutes to get over his initial shock and once he did, he burst out laughing. Did she really just call me Zuzu, he thought. After he finished laughing, he looked at Azula who was smiling at the fact that she had made Zuko laugh.

Zuko went to his room to change his clothes and bandage his eye while saying, "You really do like calling me that, don't you?"

Toph sighed tiredly, tired from walking so much. It had been a year since Toph had met with Iroh and it was time for her to check up on Zuko. What she didn't expect was that the place Zuko was staying at was really far from her metalbending school. She cursed under her breath once again. "When I find Sparky, I'm ganna make him wish he was dead," she said.

She walked for a few more hours, cursing loudly all the way, until she felt people. Excited, she quickly ran until she entered the city. Huffing, she went up to a man standing nearby and asked, "Is this River village?" The man nodded his head and before he could say anything else, Toph took off full speed towards the marketplace which was the center place of the city, hoping she could find information about Zuko.

Zuko was walking in the marketplace holding Azula in one arm and a bag of groceries in the other. After his shock of Azula's first words, he remembered that he needed to go shopping for groceries and he was just about done shopping. In his arms, Azula continued to talk randomly, saying Zuzu once in a while. Zuko smirked as he walked to the last place he had to go, a merchant that sells vegetable.

Ignoring the people who were staring at him and trying even harder to ignore the ladies that would swoon every time he passed by. Apparently taking care a child despite that fact that your wife died seemed endearing. He cursed at the fisherman whom he told the story to for telling other people, because on more the one occasions a young lady would come and offer to 'help' him take care of Azula, help being staring at Zuko and acting pretty.

Luckily for Zuko, no lady made his way towards him while he walked to the merchant. He was about to approach the stand noticed who the merchant was talking to. He froze, eyes widening from shock for the second time today. There standing right in front of him was the earthbening master, Toph Bei Fong. Cursing his luck, Zuko walked back quietly, hoping she hadn't noticed his presence, but once his foot touched the ground, Toph turned around and yelled, "Sparky, there you are."

Zuko broke out in an all out sprint, dropping his groceries and pressing Azula against his chest as he ran, much to Azula's discomfort. He knew Toph was chasing him and so he began running faster and faster. While he ran, he knocked down a merchants cart in hopes of slowing Toph down. Toph easily avoided the obstruction and while she was running she heard a voice that seemed familiar yell, "MY CABBAGES."

Toph managed to corner Zuko against and wall and he stopped running. Even Zuko knew that there was no escape so he gave up and turned around while saying, "Hey Toph, long time no see. It's been like what, a year?"

Toph ignored his comment and said, "Why are you pretending to be dead? And who's the kid?" she pointed to what she thought was the child in Zuko's arm, but instead was pointing three feet to the left.

Zuko sighed, knowing she would be asking questions like this and walked up to her grabbing her by the arm and dragging her to his apartment. All the way Toph kept demanding answers and Zuko kept saying he would tell her once they reached his apartment.

Once he had made his way inside, he placed Azula in her corner, while Toph sat down on one of the chairs in the living room and began to pick her toes. Zuko smiled at his friend's behaviour, before a rock flew into his gut. He clutched his chest, gasping for air. After the pain went away, Zuko looked up at Toph and yelled, "What the hell was that for!"

Toph looked at him amused and said, "That was for everything: making me stay up late to talk with your uncle, making me walk till my feet hurt trying to find you, making Katara cry. Really Sparky, I still haven't even gotten revenge for burning my feet and you already piss me off more."

Zuko looked at her for a moment with pain in his voice before he asked quietly, "I made Katara cry?"

Toph looked at him and laughed, he was making it so obvious. "Yup, the fact that you died made her really sad, way to go lover boy."

Zuko looked at her with shock before turning away and stuttering, "I don't love Katara. Anyways how did you find me?"

Toph yawned and said, "Your uncle sent me to check up on you. And before you say anything, he had no choice; I could tell he was lying." Zuko muttered something about him not being a child and not needing to be checked up on. "Speaking of kids," Toph said as she pointed to Azula, this time actually pointing at her, "Who's the shrimp, she seems familiar."

Zuko sighed, knowing that there was no point in lying to Toph because she could tell. He told her how Yue turned Azula into a child, how he faked his death so that she could live in peace, and how after she had accidentally drowned he was more determined to take care of her. All through the story, Toph listened very surprised. By the end of the story Toph knew that he wasn't lying and she asked her final question, "Why did you lie to us about your death. You know we wouldn't have hurt her."

Zuko looked at her with shame and said, "That's the thing, I'm not sure if you guys would. Aang might take away her bending, or Katara might say she's too dangerous and needs to be given to someone else. I guess I was just scared of what could've happened."

Toph looked at him and sighed, "You know, you don't always have to do everything alone, we're all here for you," she moved backwards so she was relaxing in the chair," But, if it makes you feel better, I won't tell anyone about your little secrete, under one condition."

Zuko gulped as he wondered what the condition was, "What's the condition?"

Toph smirked knowing his reaction would be priceless, "You and princess over there have to come live with me."

Zuko's mouth dropped and he said, "You want me to what?"

Toph laughed, she had been right about his reaction. "You heard me Sparky. Your uncle told me to take care of you and there's no way in hell I'm walking this far out every year."

Zuko tried finding a way out of this arrangement, but after going through every possible outcome, he lowered his head in defeat and said, "Fine let me pack up we can leave in the morning."

Toph laughed at Zuko's defeated tone and Azula began laughing also, for no apparent reason. Zuko sent glares at both of them before going to his room to pack.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and please remember to review.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys, I'm back from my vacation to Disney World. It was awesome. Anyways sorry for the long wait. And if you want to know, in this chapter Azula is 5 years old and Zuko is 23 years old. Anyways I hope you enjoy it and please excuse my pathetic attempt at firebending, because I'm not really good an scenes like that.

Surrounded by darkness, a small figure left her room and quietly closed the door, not wanting to wake up the earthbender that lived in the room to her right. Remembering the last time she woke Toph up early, she shuddered as she walked towards her father's room. She entered quietly and made her way to the sleeping figure's body. Once she reached Zuko she bent forward so that her face was level with Zuko's and she said fairly loudly, "Wake up."

Zuko lazily opened up one eye and looked at the person who disturbed his sleep. He waved his hand at the little girl standing in front of him and said, "It's too early to wake up."

Azula crossed her hands and she pouted. "But you promised you'd show me your firebending today Zuzu." Zuko groaned remembering that he would show her his firebending at dawn today. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them with his hands. Azula gave him a smug look of victory and Zuko flicked her forehead lightly. "Oww," she complained, "what was that for?"

Zuko pointed out his window and stated plainly, "Dawn's two hours away." The sky was still very dark and the moon was still easily seen in the night sky.

Azula's eyes widened when she realised that was true. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, while looking down nervously. She was so excited at the fact that Zuko had promised to show her his bending that she forgot the time he had said.

Zuko watched as Azula looked down nervously and sighed. He got out of his bed and walked towards Azula. Once he was standing in front of Azula he said, Azula slowly looked up until she was looking into his eyes. "Next time please be a little more attentive and aware of your surroundings." Azula quickly looked down. Great she thought, now he really thinks I'm an idiot. "However," Zuko said in a teasing tone, "It's understandable that you would get excited to see an amazing Fire bending master like me firebending at dawn. After all I am pretty awesome." He finished his sentence with a smug grin that matched Azula perfectly.

Azula rolled her eyes and said, "The only thing amazing about you is your giant ego." Zuko ignored Azula's comment and decided to ruffle her hair to annoy her more. Azula slapped Zuko's hand away and said, "Don't do that again or I'll tell auntie Toph about your other nickname. You wouldn't want that now would you, Dum-Dum" she said, putting extra emphasis on Dum-Dum.

Zuko twitched in annoyance at the thought of Toph learning of his new nickname. It was bad enough she would call him Zuzu, but if she learned about Dum-Dum she might just end up forgetting his real name. "Do you want to see me firebend or not?" he asked annoyed that he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Of course I do Zuzu," replied Azula happy over her victory over Zuko.

"Then go outside, I'll meet you there in a while," said Zuko as he made his way to the washroom. Azula followed his order and quickly ran outside, jumping with excitement. As soon as Zuko was sure Azula wasn't nearby he sighed in annoyance. "Even when she's 18 years younger than me she still wins."

oOoOoOoOo

Azula was considering going back in and telling Zuko to hurry up. She had been waiting outside for what felt like forever and she was almost certain that Zuko was doing this purposely. After waiting for twenty more minutes the sun began to come up. As soon as Azula saw the sun coming out, Zuko emerged from the house. Seeing Azula glare at him, he smirked and said, "I told you that I would show you my firebending at dawn."

Azula deepened her glare and said, "It's dawn now. So are you gonna show me your amazing firebending . Or are you really just all talk?" Azula knew that her father really was a master firebender, she just wanted to get back at him for making her wait outside for a long time.

"Fine I'll start. Go sit over there," said Zuko, pointing to a bench a few feet to his right. Azula quickly made her way there and once she had sat down Zuko took a deep breath. He put his hands together and formed a small flame in-between them. Then in one swift movement he parted his hands and a thin slice of fire flew forwards and then dispersed in the air. He then formed another flame in his hands moved it forwards, then slowly brought it back and twisted it around his body, controlling it carefully so it didn't burn him, before stopping it in front of him before dispersing it. While his fists were in front of him he shot two large streams of fire forwards, keeping it going for a while before dispersing it. To finish off he shot two swirling streams of fire into the air, and once it reached a suitable height it burst in millions of tiny, cool embers that came raining down on Zuko and Azula.

Zuko grinned as he saw Azula's face, her eyes were widened and her mouth was in a huge grin. Azula reached out and one of the embers fell into her hands, glowing for a brief second before going out. "That was awesome can you teach me how to do that?" asked Azula, looking at her father with a huge grin.

"First admit that I am a Firebending master' said Zuko looking quite smug. It was the first time Azula had ever complimented his abilities and child or not, he was going to milk it.

Azula smiled as sweetly as possible at Zuko before turning around and saying, "Fine, I guess I'll never learn how to do that, because I could never lie to you, after all you are my father."

Zuko cursed under his breath about her being a smartass before he heard Azula's stomach rumble from hunger. He grinned, showing some teeth and said, "You want to eat, call me admit I am a Firebending master."

Azula glared at Zuko before whispering, "You're a Firebending master."

"What's that?" asked Zuko cupping his hand around his hand in a mocking manner, "I couldn't hear you, please speak up."

Azula clenched her fist and said loudly, "You're a Firebending master. There happy? Now make me breakfast Dum-Dum."

Zuko ruffled Azula's hair and walked inside while he said, "Sure thing. It'll be ready in a few minutes."

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Hey dad," said Azula after she finished her breakfast, "How did you get so good at firebending?" She really wanted to know how Zuko became so strong. It had been bugging her for a while and she finally decided to ask him. Hopefully she thought, he could give me tips, so that when I can Firebend, I'll already know the secrets.

Zuko paused for a moment, thinking about what he was going to say, "A while ago people used to think firebending called on only you inner rage, and by having more rage and hatred, you Firebending got stronger."

"So the key to Firebending is rage?" asked Azula feeling confused. The way Zuko firebended today showed no rage at all. In fact he looked calm and at peace with himself.

"I thought that for a while too," admitted Zuko," But then one day I ran out of anger. I had nothing left to be angry at, and so I lost my Firebending. That's when I learned that rage isn't a reliable source of Firebending. My friends and uncle showed me that the only thing that being mad always did was hurt myself and other people around me. In hopes of getting my Firebending back I went to go see two old Firebending masters who showed me the truth about Firebending. I used to think fire is only a destructive tool, killing everything in its path, but they showed me fire was so much more. Fire is warmth, energy and life. I learned that instead of calling on my rage to fuel my Firebending, I should call upon my desire to help people to fuel it."

Azula pondered, letting the story sink in. To think that her father turned his desire to help people into a powerful form of bending seemed almost like a fairy tale to her. After wondering for a while what her desire would be she said sarcastically, "Well that was a nice life lesson learned. Now if you don't mind Zuzu, I'm going to go play outside."

Zuko looked at her leave and right before she left he heard her whisper, "My desire is to protect those close to me." He smiled, and for once knew he was raising her right.

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review, good or bad is appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guy. I hope that you guys liked the last chapter. I honestly think that this chapter is one of my best. IF you don't agree then to each his own. I would've had it up sooner but school kept getting in the way so I apologize for the wait. Anyways hope you guys like this chapter and remember to review.  
I don't own A:TLA

"Lightning, I'll show you lightning," a deranged princess yelled, while she lurched forwards. The man who stood in front of her, the only obstacle left in her path, took a deep breath and got into a strange stance that she had not seen before. Azula quickly summoned lightning and took aim at Zuko. Right before she was going to shoot she saw the peasant waterbender. How she despised her. After she finished Zuko off, the waterbender would be next to feel her wrath. A dark voice in the back of her mind told her, "Why wait?" Azula smiled evilly and moved her hand so that she was pointing at Katara. A shot of lightning left her finger tips, and suddenly it felt as if time itself slowed down. Her worthless brother ran in front of the lighting and redirected it into the sky above. Azula smirked when she saw that her brother had fallen, it didn't matter to her that the intended target was still alive, as long as all of them are dead by the time the comet leaves.

Her grin dropped when she saw the waterbender rushing to her brother, wanting to heal him. She shot a burst of fire at her and she ran in the opposite direction to protect herself from the flames. Run like the coward you are, thought Azula as she shot more fire balls at the waterbender. Katara ran out of Azula's range, so Azula ran after her at break neck speed. She found her fairly quickly and without thinking, she ran at her with the intent to kill. Azula stuck two fingers out, about to summon a fire ball, but suddenly everything froze.

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Azula woke up with a jolt. Looking around, she saw that there was no ice around her. She tried to breathe to calm herself down, but only a few shaky breaths escaped. That dream had scared her. Everything felt so real, the Firebending, when she was frozen in ice, and even the hate that the older, dream her felt. But the absolute most terrifying thing was that in her dream, she had killed her father, and she felt no remorse for it. She bit her lip and tried to stop tears from flowing, but a few managed to escape her eyes.

Azula tried to fall back to sleep, but the dream kept replaying itself in her mind. She snuggled closer to her stuffed duck, hoping that it would help her sleep. However, after tossing and turning Azula realised that she wouldn't get any sleep in her room. She got out of her bed, still holding onto her stuffed duck, and made her way out of her room. She quickly made her way down the hall until she was standing outside Zuko's room. She quietly pushed opened the door and made her way to where Zuko was sleeping. She looked at him sleeping and whispered, "Dad."

Zuko groaned and without looking at her, he said, "Go back to sleep Azula, it isn't even close to dawn."

Azula didn't move, instead she whispered again, "I can't sleep."

Zuko turned around lazily. Honestly, he thought, why does she always need to ruin my sleep? He looked at her and his annoyance turned into worry. Her eyes were red and he could see a few tears on her cheek. She was clutching her toy turtle duck, and she looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep at all. He moved over and motioned for Azula to sit down on the bed. After she sat down, Zuko asked, "What happened?"

"I had a bad dream," admitted Azula. She was looking down, scared that her dad would call her a wimp. She half expected him to yell at her for ruining his sleep for something so trivial.

Zuko looked at her a little shocked. He never expected Azula to be the type to be scared by a nightmare. Then again he never expected Azula to love a stuffed animal so much, but she had proven him wrong. "You know," said Zuko after he had gotten over his initial shock, "When I used to have nightmares, my mom would make me tell her about it, and after I finished telling her, it wouldn't feel so scary anymore."

Azula, still not looking at him, retold the nightmare she had and how real everything felt. Azula left out the part where she killed him, scared that he would hate her after she said it. However, Zuko didn't need her to tell him that happened. Zuko paled and was thankful that Azula wasn't looking at him right now. Why were her old memories coming back? Thankfully by the looks of it, thought Zuko, she doesn't seem to remember any of it. I'm going to need to know why she's having dreams about her past, thought Zuko. He looked at Azula who was currently biting her lips, trying to stop the tears from coming out. I guess that's going to have to wait for a while. "It's ok," he said patting Azula on the back, "it's just a dream."

Azula calmed down, no more tears were coming out of her eyes, however her breaths were still shaky. "Can I sleep here?" she asked. She didn't want to go back to her room, where the nightmare haunted her mind.

Zuko sighed and said, "I guess you could."

Azula wasted no time and quickly lay down under the covers of the bed. Zuko sighed and did the same, falling asleep fairly quickly. Azula on the other hand, was still having some trouble falling asleep. She kept moving, which consequently continued waking Zuko up. Eventually Zuko had enough of her moving and he put one arm around her and hugged her. "Go to sleep,' he muttered tiredly.

"Sorry," said Azula, "I guess I'm still having trouble sleeping."

"Close your eyes," said Zuko. Azula listened and slowly closed her eye, wondering what her father was planning. Zuko cleared his throat and began to say, "Leaves from the vine, Falling so slow, Like tiny fragile shells, Drifting in the foam. Little solider boy, Come marching home, Brave solider boy, Comes marching home."

"That's a beautiful poem," said Azula.

"Yea it is," said Zuko, "My mom used to sing it to me. She told me that my uncle taught her the song."

Azula taught for a second. "Zuzu," she asked, "What was my mom like."

Zuko paused, thinking of who he could use as Azula's mom. He couldn't use their mom because that would mean that he was once in love with her and that felt way too weird for Zuko. Mai didn't strike Zuko as the mothering type, and there was no way he would use Toph. He kept thinking until he thought of one girl he knew who acted as an amazing mother. "She was a waterbender," said Zuko, "She had beautiful mocha colour skin and brown, wavy hair. Her blue eyes were like two huge oceans, where a guy could just get lost in all the beauty." Zuko wasn't exaggerating anything he was saying. To him Katara was beautiful, but because he was half asleep, he didn't have his usual filter that stopped him from saying things like that.

"She sounds really pretty," said Azula. Zuko just nodded.

Azula didn't realise that the girl he was talking about was the same girl in her nightmare, who she thought was a horrible peasant in her dream. Instead she thought of her as her mother, someone who loved her and her father. Azula want to know what happened to her mother, but her eyes begun to get heavy. She closed her eyes and for the first time the whole night, she felt safe in her father's arm and happy thinking about her mother.

Zuko smiled before falling asleep as well.

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Toph woke up, stretching. She yawned and lazily got up. For once Azula didn't wake her up early and she was enjoying sleeping in late. She lazily made her way to the kitchen. However when she got to the kitchen, there was no food waiting for her, in fact there was no one in the kitchen at all. Toph sighed and made her way to Zuko's room.

When she entered the room she "saw" that Zuko was in bed, protectively hugging Azula who buried her face into his chest. If this was at another time, Toph might've called it sweet, but she was hungry and she didn't care. "Wake up!" Toph yelled loudly.

Zuko immediately woke up and got into a protective position while he threw Azula behind him, who woke up with a start. There were a few moments of silence before Toph said, "It's your turn to make breakfast," and then she left.

"I really hate her," said Zuko. Azula nodded her head in agreement. Pushing aside the incident that just happened, Zuko asked, "Did you have any more nightmares?"

"No," answered Azula.

"Good," said Zuko, "Now go brush your teeth; breakfast is going to be ready soon."

Azula left Zuko's room and walked to the washroom. After she finished brushing her teeth, she walked into the kitchen were Toph was already seated, waiting for her food."Hey brat," greeted Toph.

"Hey", replied Azula tiredly.

"What's the matter with you?" Toph asked.

"I didn't get much sleep," replied Azula, not wanting to give up any more information.

Too bad for Azula that Toph figured out the rest of the story. "So you got nightmares and you went to go sleep with Sparky," said Toph. Azula just nodded her head, not wanting to verbally admit it. Azula felt a huge blow in her pride last night. She felt weak that she had to go to her father when she had nightmares. Toph sensed Azula discomfort about the subject so she decided to change it. "Today's going to be the luckiest day of your life," said Toph, "Cause I'm going to take you to the park."

Azula's eyes lighted up when she heard the word park. "Really? Can we go now?" she asked.

"We'll leave as soon as we finish breakfast," said Toph.

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"Are we there yet?" asked Azula for the tenth time.

"Yes!" yelled Toph, "We are finally there!" The whole time Azula had been asking Toph if they were there yet and it annoyed her to no end. Honestly right now Toph would much rather have her old, killer self then this excited kid version. Zuko just chuckled at Toph's annoyance.

Azula cheered and ran towards the sand box. Toph went to go sit down and Zuko followed. "Since when do killer princesses love going to the park?" asked Toph.

"When they stop being killers," answered Zuko seriously, "Anyways Toph, I need a favour."

"I'm not going to baby sit her," said Toph, without bothering to ask what the favour was, "Cause we both know how that's going to end."

"No it's not that," said Zuko, "I need you to tell bring Aang here. There are something's I need to ask him."

If Toph were drinking something, she would spit it all out of her mouth. The shocked expression on her face showed that she had no idea what was going on. "Why the hell do you want to talk to him now? What happened to, 'I'm scared of what they'll do.'" she asked.

"Azula had a dream about our fight during Sozin's comet. I want Aang to come so that he could talk to the moon spirit and see what's going on," said Zuko, "I want to make sure she's ok and the old Azula isn't going to come back."

Silence settled between Zuko and Toph. After a few minutes of processing what Zuko said Toph replied, "do you want just Aang or should I bring the whole gang?'

"Just Aang," said Zuko.

Toph looked at him and said, "You owe me big time for this."

Zuko laughed and scratched the back of his head, "I figured I would."

"I'll go to get him tomorrow," said Toph, "Now if you don't mind, I'm going home." Toph got up and started walking towards her house.

Zuko stared at the ground, wondering what on earth Toph would make him do as payment.

Hope you guys enjoyed, remember to review please, they keep me motivated.


	10. Chapter 10

I'm sooooooo sorry about the late update guys. School's been really taking out my writing time and my dad started to restrict my time on the computer for some reason. But because I made you guys wait so long I made sure this chapter was extra long. I hope that the action in this chapter isn't too bad, because action isn't one of my best generas.

*Omg guys I'm sooo sorry. I didn't know that kafir was a racial slur. I'm really sorry if I offended anyone. Really, I'm sorry. I changed his name to Koda.

Anyways, I don't own A:TLA

"Listen Azula you know I don't want to do this either, but it's not like I have a choice," said Zuko, "Toph went to meet with some of her friends and some guy is paying me money to fix his roof. I'd bring you but the guy hates kids."

"You could just leave me home for a while," suggested Azula while she pouted. Why can't Zuzu realize I'm old enough to take care of myself, thought Azula, I don't need someone to look after me.

"You know I can't do that Azula," said Zuko as he sighed. "It'll only be for a few hours, I swear this is only a onetime thing." Zuko leaned outside the door of a day care, waiting for Azula to answer. He inwardly hoped she would agree soon so he didn't end up being late for his job. "Who knows, maybe you'll meet a new friend here," he added in hopefully.

Azula crossed her arms. She didn't like the fact that her dad thought that someone always needed to look over her. However he did have a point, she could make some new friends, plus she already knew she lost, there's no point to continue arguing this topic. Azula let out a long sigh before saying, "I suppose I can do this, but it better be a onetime thing only."

Zuko smiled and ruffled Azula hair. "I swear, this is the only time," he said as he led Azula inside. Once he got inside, he looked around, inspecting the area. There were about a dozen children in the building, all either playing with the toys kept in the day care, or with each other. The walls had some drawings from some of the kids who come here often and the walls itself where a bright blue colour. He saw some parents saying good bye to their crying children. He mentally thanked Azula for not being a cry baby, because he has absolutely no idea how to deal with children like that.

Azula too was inspecting the building, but she was more focused on the actual children. She would never admit it out loud, but she didn't really have a single friend. Out of the dozen kids in the building, seven of them where boys, split into two groups, one group with three boys and the other with four boys. The five girls were in one big group. Azula made up her mind, first she would go to the girls group, and if for some strange reason it didn't work out with them, she would go to the larger boys group, and then if needed she would go to the smaller boys group. Azula mentally congratulated herself for thinking up her full proof plan to make some friends. Now all she had to do was wait for her dad to sign her in and then she would start her plan.

While Zuko was looking around, the daycare owner took it upon herself to come and introduce herself to Zuko. With the biggest smile she could make, she walked up to Zuko and said, "Welcome, My name is Joo Dee, and this is my daycare," she said widening her smile, "How may I be of service to you today?"

Zuko inwardly shivered at the creepy daycare lady's even creepier smile. He was honestly debating whether to actually keep Azula in the same room as this woman. He knew Azula would give him hell for this but he didn't have another choice. In his most polite voice he said, "I would like to keep my daughter Azula," he said, pointing at Azula who was busy looking at all the toys in the room, "here for a few hours while I go to work."

"I would be delighted to keep your lovely daughter here," said Joo Dee, "She looks like such a nice child." Joo Dee bent down so that she and Azula where at eye level. "Hello there," she said, somewhat creepily, "my name's Joo Dee, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Azula gulped and looked up at her father, her expression almost as if she was begging her father to tell her this was some kind of prank. Zuko looked and couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving her with this strange lady. "It's nice to meet you too," said Azula, stepping back from the woman.

"It'll be a pleasure having you here," said Joo Dee. "Now if you don't mind," she said pointing at Zuko, "Please say your good bye so that the daycare programs may begin."

Zuko nodded his head and Joo Dee walked away. Once Joo Dee was out of sight, Zuko let out a long sigh, knowing exactly what Azula was going to say. "There's no way you can leave me alone with that woman," said Azula, practically yelling at Zuko. "If you really love me you won't leave me here," she said, hoping that would get Zuko to change his mind.

Unfortunately for her, Zuko wasn't about to change his mind. "I'm really sorry about this," he said pinching the bridge of his nose, "But like I've said a multiple amount of times already, I don't have another choice. Believe me if I did, I would've run out of this place with you, but I don't so you have to stay here." Zuko bent down so that he was eye level with Azula and he placed his hands on her shoulders, "I swear I will be back in a few hours, and after I come back I'll take you out for ice cream," he said, hoping that ice cream would be able to persuade Azula.

For once this whole day, Zuko seemed to get lucky. Azula sighed and said, "You better buy me a huge ice cream sundae."

Zuko grinned and quickly hugged Azula before walking out while saying, "Be good. I'll pick you up in a few hours."

Azula groaned and muttered, "This is going to be a long day," before walking towards where Joo Dee was pointing for her to sit, still smiling like the nutcase Azula thought she was.

0o0o0o0o0

For Azula, the last hour was the longest hour in her life. She could stand the fact that for some reason, Joo Dee decided to seat her next to both of the boy groups, much to her dismay. She could stand the fact that the kid who sat beside he picked his nose and ate it. She could even stand the fact that one of the boys beside her kept punching her. The one thing however, that she couldn't stand was Joo Dee singing nursery rhymes for an hour straight. Just thinking about it made her ears ache. So it was a bittersweet feeling for Azula when she heard Joo Dee yell that it was time for recess.

Going as quick as her legs would let her, she ran out of the building and into the playground, trying to put as much distance between her and Joo Dee. Once she was a good distance away from Joo Dee, Azula sat down on the ground under the shade of a huge tree. While she was catching her breath, she muttered, "I swear Zuzu, I'm going to kill you for this." While she continued mumbling to herself, mostly thinking about ways to torture Zuko, the rest of the kids came out from the building and started to play within their groups. The girls all huddled in a circle and started to play with some dolls that they were aloud to take from inside, while some of the boys played tag and the others played with toy trucks.

Finally finished with her thoughts, Azula looked around and saw everyone playing. A small grin appeared on her face. "Time for plan A," she said to herself. She got up and shook all the small grass pieces of her clothes and fixed her hair a little bit. I have to make myself look presentable, she thought. After making sure she looked fine, she walked as confidently as possible to the group of girls. No point of being friends if they think I'm weak, she thought.

When she got closer, she saw that the girls were playing with dolls. She stuck her tongue in disgust. Azula never really liked playing with dolls. She thought that it was a waste of time playing with things like that. But, she thought, it doesn't matter what they do as long as they are my friends. She felt that she had waited enough and she made her way to the group of girls. "Hello," she said, trying to make herself sound important, "Today, you all have the honour of playing with me." Best way to makes friends where to make them respect you, she thought, and the best way to get respect is to make yourself seem important.

All the girls looked at her for a moment, before blinking and turning away, continuing with their game. Azula stared at them with disbelief. How could they just brush me off like that, she thought, as if I'm some insignificant worm? Anger swept over her and she walked towards the nearest girl and ripped the doll out of her hands, and then proceeded to crush with her foot. The young girl started to cry, and sure enough Joo Dee rushed over to them.

One of the girls told her what happend and after hearing it Joo Dee went to speak with Azula. "That wasn't a nice thing you did to her," she said, "now if you just apologise, everything will go back to normal."

Azula stared at her in disbelief. Did that nut case really just say I needed to apologise, she yelled mentally, even after they completely brushed me off. "If anyone should apologise it should be them," said Azula loudly, "They completely ignored me like I was some kind of worm or something."

Joo Dee looked at her and said, "Since you aren't going to apologise, I have no choice but to give you a time out."

And that was how Azula found herself sitting alone near a fence, fuming with anger. "How dare she give me a time out," she said to herself, "it was clearly them who should have a time out. Now my whole plan is ruined." Azula sighed and rested her chin on her arms, and with a little bit of sadness in her voice said, "I was really excited that I was going to make a friend."

Suddenly, something rustled in the bushes. Azula stared at it, thinking that it was just her imagination, but then the leaves moved again. Slowly getting up, she made her way to the bush. She got a stick that was lying on the ground, and slowly brought it to the bush. Taking a deep breath, she quickly used the stick to move away all the leaves separating her from the mysterious thing. She got into an offensive stand, still not looking at the mysterious creature. However when she looked at the creature, she dropped her offensive stance. Standing in front of her was not a horrible beast that she thought was standing there, but an Armadillo Lion cub. The creature had a face and upper body of a lion, and had the legs and the shell of an armadillo. She carefully moved towards the animal, not wanting to scare it or worse, provoke it. However, instead of backing away like Azula expected the animal to do, it simply stared at Azula in curiosity and meowed.

Azula grinned and moved close enough so she was sitting next to the beast. She slowly lifted her hand and petted the animal. The Armadillo Lion purred and Azula's grin widened. "I think I'm going to name you Koda," she said, and was answered with a meow. "Now how did you get in here," she asked Koda. Koda got up and moved towards a hole in the fence. Before Azula could say anything else, Koda ran through the hole. Azula hesitated, wondering whether or not she should follow Koda. For behind she heard Joo Dee's annoying voice telling a kid not to eat his boogers. Without giving it a second thought, Azula ran through the hole.

0o0o0o0o0

Azula was having the time of her life. She had never been in the market alone before, and with Koda, she was finding new places that she never even knew. Koda showed her so many new places like the fountain on the west side of the town and a giant tree located near the north side of the town.

Now Koda was showing her the way back to her daycare. "You know," she said, walking side by side with Koda, "Today is probably one of the best days of my life, I can't wait tell I show you to Zuzu, he's going to love you." Koda meowed in agreement, sounding equally as excited. "I hope he lets me keep you," said Azula while patting Koda. Koda meowed again and turned left, into a small alley way.

If Azula had been observing things better, she would've seen two burly men following her all throughout town. "Are you sure that's a baby Armadillo Lion Chan?" asked out of the men.

"I'm sure of it Lee," said the man whose name was apparently Chan. Lee smiled, revealing the fact that he was missing a few teeth.

"Ohh boy," said Lee, "Those things are worth a lot of money. I can imagine all the food we could buy with all that money." Some droll escaped the corner of Lee's mouth.

Chan sighed and slapped that back of Lee's head, snapping him out of his day dream. "Focus on the job idiot," he said harshly, "Now's the perfect chance, the kid went into that alleyway. That Armadillo Lion is as good as ours." The two men walked behind Azula and Koda and once they were sure that no one was behind them they sprung into action.

Chan ran behind Azula and quickly covered her mouth with his hand, while Lee ran after Koda, who was running all over the place to avoid capture. Azula yelled, but all that came out was a muffled sound.

Azula was freaking out. One second she was talking to Koda about what Zuzu was like, and the next second a huge man was covering her mouth while another huge man chased Koda around. Azula violently swung her body side to side, trying to escape his grasp, but he was too strong.

"Just be a good little girl and we won't hurt you," said Chan, "We only want the Armadillo Lion." Azula almost threw up from the smell of the man's breath. It smelled like rotten fish on a hot sunny day. She shook more violently, but again, he was too strong for her. Azula could only watch helplessly as Lee chased Koda.

Koda was obviously faster than the bulky man chasing him; however there was a limited space to move around and Koda's stamina was staring to run out. Koda was about to jump over a few boxes and onto a roof top when he saw that the big man was starting to crush Azula for continually moving around. Koda let out a deep growl and bared his teeth. Either Chan didn't hear the growl, or he was stupid and wanted to provoke the animal more, because he continued to crush Azula harder and harder, making her yell out in pain. Koda growled once more before pouncing and sinking his teeth into Chan's bare arm.

Chan let out a surprised yell of pain and let go of Azula, who fell on the ground, clutching her chest. Chan let out a growl and tried to remove Koda from his arm, making Koda bite deeper into his arm. Chan let out another yelp of pain before punching Koda in the gut, effectively removing him from Chan's arm and sending him to the floor, injured. Koda tried getting up, but couldn't and fell back on the ground, letting out a small, weak meow.

Azula stared at Koda, completely frozen, with tears in her eyes. She had seen how Koda had heroically tried to Azula and what happened because of it. She was about to say something when she heard Chan say something to Lee that made her blood turn into ice. "I'm sure he'll still be worth a lot dead."

Azula panicked, completely losing it. She lost control of what she was doing. She quickly got to her feet, and ran towards Lee. Once she was close enough to him, she jumped and tackled him. Lee, not expecting an attack from Azula, got knocked down to the ground, and hit his head on a rock, knocking him out.

Chan looked at Azula with pure anger in his eyes. "You're going to pay for that you little brat," he said as he lunged at Azula. Azula quickly rolled out of the way and ran at Chan, punching his gut. Chan laughed as Azula continued to punch him. "Stop it, you're going to kill me," he said sarcastically. He picked Azula up by the back of her shirt and threw her against a wall. Azula hit the wall hard and slumped down, barley staying conscious.

She saw Chan move towards her, smiling devilishly. Fear washed over Azula and she had no idea what to do. With nothing else to lose, Azula shot her fist forward hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Surprising both her and Chan, a small fireball flew forward and hit Chan's chest, burning his shirt and chest. At least I die knowing I can Firebend, thought Azula, while she smiled. Her eyes slowly started to close and soon, she drifted off.

Chan quickly hit his shirt multiple times, putting out the small flames forming on his shirt. He let out an angry breath, his face literally red from anger. He grinned when he saw Azula fall unconscious. He moved forwards until he was looming over Azula. "You're dead," he said as he shot his fist forward.

His fist stopped inches in front of Azula's face, and he gulped. He felt a blade being pushed deeper into his neck, drawing out a little blood. He slowly turned around until he was facing a man who had dual dao swords in both his hand. He looked at the man's face and instantly his blood turned into ice. Glaring at him was a man with shaggy black hair, one golden eye, the other covered in a bandage. "Actually, you've been dead ever since you touched my daughter," growled Zuko as he smashed the hilt of the sword into Chan's temple, knocking him out.

I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. Remember to review.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. School along with writers block wouldn't let me write this chapter. In all honesty I don't think this chapter was as good as the previous ones and so I apologies, but I figured I might as well upload something. Also I was wondering if one of you guys would like to draw an actual cover for this story, as my artistic abilities suck. If you're intrested, please send me a pm.

As always, I dont own A:TLA and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

It was dark. So dark that Azula couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. "Where am I?" asked Azula to herself, trying to find a source of light. She walked forward until an idea struck her. Remembering her fight with the brute, she held her hand in front of her and focused on producing a spark. "You did it before," she said to herself, hoping that some encouragement would help. After concentrating for a moment, a small but steady flame appeared in her hand. "Yes," she cheered aloud, proud of the fact she once again created a small flame.

With a new light source, Azula looked around, stunned by her surroundings. Out of the darkness long pillars appeared on both sides of her, towering over her. The pillars were draped with the Fire Nation, however instead of orange banners, the background of the banners were blue. "Strange," she said to herself.

As Azula continued to move forward, she became more and more unnerved. "Why does everything in this place seem so familiar?" she asked herself in a whisper. Despite her nervousness, she continued to walk forward, passing by more and more pillars. After walking for what seemed like hours, Azula spotted a light source in front of her. Letting her small flame die, she ran forward towards the new source of light, hoping it was a way out, or at the very least, another person.

The closer Azula got towards the source of light, the bigger it grew, until it became a giant wall of flame, which towered over her small body. Looking at the flames, Azula noticed something off about it. Instead of orange, the flames were a bright blue colour. The other thing Azula noticed was the flames moved in an almost eccentric fashion. While most flames followed a breathing like pattern, the wall of flames would rapidly grow bigger and smaller, and occasionally shoot a burst of flame in a random direction. "Like wild fire," said Azula to herself, captivated by the deadly beauty of the odd fire.

Behind the fire, Azula could make out the outline of a throne. Beside the throne, there was a cage that was fully sealed and only had one small slit that let air in and out. Taken over by curiosity, Azula walked towards the cage. The closer she got the more she wanted to open it.

"Come on, open the cage," said a voice that sounded like her own. "You know you want to," it said seductively, coaxing Azula to do what it wanted. Once Azula got to the cage, she couldn't resist it anymore. With a swift kick, she broke the lock and opened it.

Azula looked into the cage, expecting to see a person. However, Azula saw nothing but darkness in the cage. Turning away, Azula groaned in disappointment. "What a waste," she said to herself, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"I wouldn't call it a waste, after all, I am finally free," said the voice once more.

Azula turned around, expecting to see a person. However, when Azula turned around to greet the mysterious person, she froze. Staring back at her was a giant blue dragon, which was glaring back with piercing gold eyes. Azula felt her knees grow weak, and within seconds, she fell back, paralyzed with fear. Why can't I move, she asked herself as she tried to run away.

The dragon stood still, watching Azula trying to get away. "How pathetic," it said, "You're so scared you can't even run. I expected better of you, even if you are living with that wimp Zuko. I guess it can't be helped, after all you and him always were hopeless."

Azula felt her blood boil. Not only did the dragon mock her, it had also mocked Zuko. Her fear being replaced with anger, Azula got up and walked towards to the dragon. The dragon lowered its head until its face was inches away from Azula's and showed her its teeth, in an attempt to squash her new found courage, Azula simply ignored the teeth and said, "You made two mistakes you overgrown lizard. First mistake, you mocked me. Second mistake, you made fun of my family." The anger was evident in her face as she glared at the dragon.

The dragon looked at Azula, studying her face for a few moments. "Now that's better," said the dragon, which seemed to be grinning for a moment, "However, don't forget, I could crush you like a bug right now if I wanted to." The dragon wrapped its tail around Azula's leg and hung her upside-down in front of her mouth.

Azula gasped from the sudden yank and closed her eyes to refrain from looking at the dragon's razor sharp teeth. She felt the adrenaline and anger quickly disappear, and once again be replaced by the paralyzing fear. The dragon began slowly compress its tail, slowly crushing Azula's leg. Azula yelled out in pain, tears streaming down her face. She heard the dragon laugh sadistically; obviously enjoying the pain Azula was put through.

After a few more moments of bone crushing pain, the dragon loosened its grip on Azula. "Looks like its time for you to leave. Before you go," said the dragon, "I have one more thing to tell you. Don't trust anyone, not even your precious Zuko; they all think you're a monster."

The dragon lifted Azula above its mouth before letting her go. Azula screamed as she was dropped into the dragon's mouth. For a moment she felt the dragon's teeth pierce her body. Then everything went black.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Zuko was in the kitchen, making some tea for him and Azula. No matter what he tried, all he could think about was how he failed Azula. He had taken Azula to a healer moments after he found her, and after receiving a lengthy lecture about how irresponsible he was, the doctor told him that Azula would be fine and just needed some rest. Even though he mostly ignored the healers lecture he had still heard the healer say that as her father, he needed to be more responsible or else next time he might be too late. Remembering how badly beaten Azula was made Zuko feel sick. "Why couldn't I have gotten there faster," said Zuko as he smashed his fist on the counter. He felt his body tremble in a mixture of anger and guilt.

Zuko was about to smash something out of pure anger when he felt something rub against his legs. He looked down and saw that the armadillo lion that he found with Azula was rubbing its back against his legs. Sighing, he bent down and started to pet it for a few moments. "There's no point in me getting mad now, what's done is done," he said to himself. Regaining his composure, Zuko went back to finishing the tea. Once Zuko finished, he held both cups in his hand and made his way to Azula's room. He was in front of the door, about to gently push the door open with his foot, when he heard Azula scream.

He dropped both the cups that where in his hand and slammed the door open, ready to kill anyone who would dare to hurt Azula again. He looked around and saw that no one was in the room. He then ran to Azula, who was yelling and crying. When he got closer to her, he noticed that her eyes were closed and she was crying. "Another nightmare?" he asked himself.

He quickly ran to Azula and grabbed her shoulders and yelled, "Wake up Azula." Zuko despretly began shaking Azula, trying to do anything to wake her up from the nightmare. After a few minutes of yelling and shaking, Azula finally opened her eyes, tears still flowing freely from her eyes.

Before Zuko could say anything else, Azula buried her face into his chest, staining his shirt with tears. Zuko was taken back for a moment, unsure of what to do, before wrapping her with his arms and whispering, "You're safe now."

Azula buried her head deeper into Zuko, and in a whisper so soft that not even Zuko could hear said, "I'm not a monster."

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Please remember to read and review.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry for the long wait, I've just been swamped with homework lately. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.  
I don't own A:TLA

Zuko frowned as he watched Azula play with the armadillo lion cub. It had been a day since the incident, and Azula still wouldn't talk to him about it. No matter how hard he tried, she wouldn't talk to him about it. Anytime he mentioned it she would just tense up then dismiss it as a bad dream. Even without him saying anything, she still seemed tense. Zuko sighed, "If she won't tell me her problem at the very least I could help her forget about it for a while" he muttered to himself. "Hey Azula," he called out.

Azula ignored him at first, thinking it was just another attempt to try to make her talk about her 'nightmare'. However after a few more times of him calling out her name she caved. "What do you want Zuzu?" said Azula, still mostly focused on the animal in front of her.

"Well I have to go grocery shopping, and I was wondering if you want to come," said Zuko.

Azula paused for a moment. "Can we get some ice cream too," she asked, hoping that this little trip would get her mind off previous events.

Zuko sighed, but patted Azula's head and said, "Sure why not."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The market place was bustling with people. All around, people were full of energy. Market owners were trying to sell their goods to people walking by. Kids were running around, either with other kids or their parents. A group of women off to the side talked in a huddled corner, occasionally looking at men that passed by.

Azula sighed in relief, taking a deep breath of air. She already felt herself relaxing a little. She walked by Zuko's side, occasionally falling behind. Beside her Koda walked, its little chest puffed up, trying to make itself look bigger. Azula couldn't help but giggle when she saw Koda trip over a pebble because he wasn't paying attention to the path.

Zuko and Azula walk by the group of women, and as they were about to pass them, one of the ladies made their way up to Zuko. Azula couldn't help but roll her eyes as the lady tried to flirt with Zuko. She didn't know which one was sadder, he girls attempt at flirting or her father obliviousness to it all. However, even though her father was oblivious, she didn't like that fact that a new girl was trying to get close to her father. When she was sure the lady saw her, Azula made a small fire ball appear in her hand and tried her best to smile evilly at the lady. Apparently she was better at it than she thought, as the lady suddenly left, stuttering an excuse to leave.

Azula smirked at her victory, happy that she managed to scare the lady away from her father. However, her happiness quickly ended when she heard the lady say "That man has a monster as a child."

"They all think you're a monster." Those dreaded words rang through her head once again. She quickly looked down, hoping that Zuko wouldn't notice her sudden change in attitude. For the rest of the shopping, Azula stayed behind Zuko, keeping her head down, trying to force back her emotions.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Zuko sighed as he saw the sun begging to set. "Why does Toph have such a long grocery list," he said to himself. He stretched a little, careful not to drop the bags that help the grocery. Turning around so he was looking at Azula he said, "Well, looking like were finally done shopping, I guess it's time for ice cream."

Azula kept looking down, and simply said, "Ok."

Zuko stared at her for a moment, dumbstruck. That was not the reaction he was expecting. He was about to ask Azula if she felt ok but stopped himself. Azula would never tell him what's wrong if he just outright asked, he'd have to take a slow and careful approach this time, and then hopefully she'd tell him what's wrong. He faked a smile and said, "Great, cause I know this really good ice cream place down the street. It's so good I'll even get Koda a scoop."

Zuko and Azula walked in silence to the ice cream stand, the only sound coming from Koda's occasional meows. Zuko didn't take his eyes off Azula this time, trying to figure out what was bothering her. They reached the ice cream stand faster than Zuko hoped, and he had to stop thinking of possible theories to pay for the ice cream. He bought on scoop of strawberry ice cream for himself and he bought Azula two scoops of chocolate ice cream, hoping to help cheer her up a little bit. True to his word, he even bought a vanilla ice cream for Koda, which he promptly put on the ground so that Koda could begin eating.

They once again walked in silence, both eating their ice cream. Zuko finished his ice cream first, and he patiently waited for Azula to finish her ice cream. After Azula finished her ice cream, Zuko decided to try small talk. By now the sun had fully set and the stars came out in the sky. "The sky looks great doesn't it," said Zuko.

Azula looked up for a moment, before once again staring at the ground and saying, "It looks ok."

Zuko was about to say something else but he was cut off by Azula. "I don't want to be a monster," she said, quietly, but loud enough for Zuko to hear. Azula didn't even realise what she said until the last word escaped her mouth. However, she couldn't stop now. Her emotions rushed out like a river. Tears quickly began escaping her eyes. "Please, please, I don't want to be a monster Zuzu, because then you won't love me" she said between sobs, "No one loves a monster".

Zuko stood frozen in spot. He felt a pain in his chest. "My own mother thought I was a monster." Those faithful words he heard Azula say on Ember Island a few years ago rang through his head. He never considered how much it must've hurt Azula to think her own mother considered her a monster. Was this how Azula felt he asked himself?

Zuko slowly walked to Azula. Once he was an arm's length away, he reached out and pulled Azula into a hug. He felt Azula's tears dampen his shirt. "I never did, and I never will think you're a monster," he said as a tear made its way down his shirt. He could feel Azula cry harder, and he slowly began patting her back in an attempt to comfort her.

After some time, Zuko felt Azula calm down. He slowly pushed Azula away so her face was no longer buried in his chest. Once she was about an arm's length away, Zuko once again spoke. "Azula, I don't know who or what gave you the idea that you are a monster, but believe me when I say that you are not a monster. And also believe me say that no matter what happened, I will always love you."

Azula sniffled, fighting back a few tears. She wiped her eyes and said, "Thanks Zuzu, for everything."

"Azula, will you please tell me who told you that you were a monster," asked Zuko, almost sounding desperate.

Azula knew that she had to tell him now. After all that happened, she felt that it was almost impossible for her not to tell him. Azula told him about the dream, the blue dragon and the 'advise' that it had given her. She also told him about the lady who flirted with him and had called her a monster, to which he blushed when she told him how he was oblivious to her flirting.

After Azula had told him about the dream, Zuko became tense. The fact that there was blue fire and a blue dragon scared him. Is this old Azula's doing he asked himself?

"Oh and I can do this," Azula said proudly as she produced a small flame in her right hand.

Zuko smiled and said, "You really are a natural born prodigy."

"Can you teach me how to Firebend now?" Azula asked, excitedly.

"I would be honored " said Zuko laughing. While He and Azula continued to small talk on the way back to their home, Zuko couldn't help but worry. "I hope you come soon Aang," he whispered to himself.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please remember to read and review.


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